Jonathan Caouette’s groundbreaking film is a personal excavation that defies description. Raw and riveting, Caouette cuts together a trove of intimate footage—decades of home movies, performance video diaries, answering machine messages, short films, and family photographs—to examine his life, especially his relationship with his mother, Renee, who is schizophrenic. The film begins as Caouette learns of Renee’s lithium overdose back home, an event that uproots his life in New York City and leads him back to his Texas childhood. Lines of text onscreen, what’s unspoken, anchor the collage of source materials and memories and provide mileposts along the account of his chaotic journey. A family portrait, Tarnation explores themes of mental illness, sexuality, abuse, neglect, and reconnection. Famously edited in iMovie, the singular filmmaking style is confrontational and cathartic. A viewing experience felt on a cellular level, Caouette’s anguish and tenacity emenates from the screen.  ST